I've been effusive in my praise of the first-gen Mustang in previous posts. I think it fully deserves the credit. The original Mustang was one of the most important cars ever made, and its design still looks great today. The baby boomer generation must have seen it as sex on wheels compared to the hulking, staid sedans their parents drove.

So how do you sell the Mustang to young people? Simple: you make the most boring commercial you possibly can. Wait, what?

That's exactly the approach Ford took when they made this ad, and it is quite possibly the most boring ad for a sporty car that I have ever seen. We see a young-ish stylist slaving over blueprints, striving to give the car a look of "total performance." Then the narrator goes on and on about the padded instrument panel, the sculpted side panels, the round rear openings and BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Get to the point, skip. I want to hear about engines and horsepower quotes. I want to see the car driving really fast. I want to see the driver actually having fun!

Oh look, it's driving next to some horses. I think I just fell asleep in my cereal bowl.

Luckily, Ford didn't need great ads for the Mustang to be a hit. The car started a revolution almost overnight, and for that, we're all better off. All I know is that Don Draper wouldn't have signed off on this ad. Way too boring.

What do you think of this ad, and classic Mustangs in general?

Update: As a few of you astute folks have pointed out in the comments, this may have been a dealer training film rather than a TV ad. Good eye! But it's still boring. Really, really boring.